Summary

In Hong Kong, Pepe Monson meets a woman who claims to have two navels, asking for "an operation" (64) to correct her condition. Monson explains he is "only a horse doctor" (64), but the woman, Connie, continues to give him more details about her life, including that she was just married that morning. She describes first discovering her two navels were different at age five, when she realized her doll only had one navel. She describes using her abnormality against her parents, who knew that she understood her abnormality, but feigned ignorance as "a monster of a child" could prove they were "rather monstrous" (66) themselves. This allowed Connie to do "whatever [she] pleased" (66) as a child, but her abnormality began to embarrass her as a teenager. She also put off marriage because of her secret, until she turned 30 and became "frantic...